The end of independent achievement awards for Grade 8 students in the Regina Catholic School Division has sparked plenty of online debate about the proposal. Education reporter Austin M.Davis takes a look at some of the responses.

REGINA — The end of independent achievement awards may be in sight for Grade 8 students in the Regina Catholic School Division.

St. Joan of Arc, St. Andrew and St. Pius X elementary schools are acting as pilot schools for the outcomes-based reporting system in grades 7 and 8 this school year. The change means the schools, and the division, are moving toward recognizing and celebrating the successes of all students at end-of-the-year Grade 8 farewells.

“We’re trying to sift and sort kids at a very early age,” Matt Brown, St. Joan of Arc Elementary School principal, said of individual achievement awards.

“One of the things we commonly hear is, ‘Well, do you think awards are bad then?’ No, we think that it’s too soon.”

He compared singling out Grade 8 students for individual awards to picking the best hockey player ever: People have different strengths and he would prefer to celebrate those strengths than choose the greatest one.

The three schools are uniquely adapting the system to meet students’ needs. While St. Pius and St. Joan of Arc will still be handing out individual awards at this year’s ceremonies, school staff are figuring out the best way to handle the transition.

However, St. Andrew will not have an honour roll at the end of this school year.

“For kids at ages 11, 12, 13, to rank them and tell them they’re not as good as someone else — or to tell them they’re better than someone else — Grade 8 Farewell isn’t the right time for it,” said Len Thauberger, St. Andrew principal.

Outcomes-based report cards will not include percentages. Instead of receiving marks in the 60s, 70s or 80s, students will have about a dozen expectations for a single class and will be evaluated as to whether or not they meet them. Their final “grades” would fill into one of four categories: Not Yet, Beginning, Meeting or Exceeding.

In a science class, for example, evaluation would be based on expectations like “Student understands how various elements of ecosystems are interconnected.”

Outcomes-based, or outcomes-referenced, reporting has been the norm for grades 1 to 5 throughout the division since fall 2010.

“There’s an expectation from the Ministry (of Education), and for us as educators, that all kids at each grade level are going to meet the outcome,” said Janet Chabot, a division superintendent of education services.

Report cards will also include an overall life skills category measuring categories like students’ responsibility and collaboration.

In some cases, students can be involved with constructing the expectation criteria. Of course, teachers still have the final say, but the thinking is that clear expectations will result in kids taking on more responsibility for their progress.

Chabot and Michele Braun, another division superintendent of education services, believe outcome-based reporting offers a more transparent evaluation system and a more engaging learning environment for kids.

“We want the kids to get engaged in their learning because then they can go and know where they need to focus. Then we can get them to focus on what their strengths are,” Braun said.

Thauberger agrees with moving away from report cards filled with percentages toward a more specific system that offers tangible feedback.

“It was simplistic,” Thauberger said. “You could identify a student that would qualify with the highest mark on that basis, but it wasn’t really a true indicator of, necessarily, the best students or the other factors involved.”

The division is planning to bring more schools into the staged implementation plan, which will also include Grade 6.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

There are potentially billions of dollars at play in the dispute, which centres around India increasing import tariffs on Canadian pulses, which largely come from the prairies. India recently increased its imports on chickpeas to 40 per cent and has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on peas.